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Appeared on: Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi

1. Introduction

Asus is the first manufacturer that released a new series of motherboards based on the newly released Intel P35 chipset which is supposed to replace the P965. The first motherboard from Asus, the P5K Deluxe, comes with DDR2 support and we are very curious to see what kind of performance and features are provided by this next generation of motherboards based on the new Intel chipsets.

The P5K3/P5K series of motherboards provide four outstanding features for the user. The Deluxe version of the motherboard has built-in native DDR2 1066 support and is able to overclock with an ultra high frequency to achieve DDR2 1400. These ASUS motherboards still provide you with quiet thermal solutions - which contain the 8 phase power design, Stack Cool 2 and the Heat Pipe Design functions. They also come with the newest AI Gear 2 to save up to 50% of CPU power usage. Complementing all these features are ASUS´ innovative tools - AI Slot Detector; allowing the user to conveniently install the computer. The P5K3/P5K series decreases temperature, provides stable overclocking, lowers noise levels and saves the most electricity.

AI Lifestyle Series motherboards bring lifestyle and personal computing together. They provide you better system performance to enjoy graphic-intensive games and applications. The cutting-edge audio feature dramatically enhances the quality of voice signal. Thoughtful design allows you to set up your system easily. To create a peaceful environment, several new and improved innovations are included to reduce noise and temperature. Don´t change your way of life for a computer. Instead let the ASUS Lifestyle Series improve the quality of your life.

LGA775 Intel® Quad-core Processor Ready
This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Quad-core processors in LGA775 package.
It's excellent for multi-tasking, multi-media and enthusiastic gamers with 1066/800 MHz FSB.
Intel® Quad-core is one of the most powerful CPU in the world.

LGA775 Intel® Core™2 Processor Ready
This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Core™2 processors in LGA775 package. With new Intel® Core™ microarchitecture technology and 1066 / 800 MHz FSB, Intel® Core™2 processor is one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPU in the world.

Intel P35 chipset
The Intel® P35 Express Chipset is the latest chipset designed to support the next generation 45nm CPU; and up to 8GB of dual-channel DDR2 800/667 MHz memory architecture. It also supports 1333/1066/800 FSB (Front Side Bus), PCI Express x16 graphics and multi-core CPUs.

ATI CrossFire TechnologyATI´s CrossFire boosts image quality along with rendering speed, eliminating the need to scale down screen resolutions to get the high image quality you want. CrossFire ignites with the higher antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, shading, and texture settings you desire. Adjust your display configurations, experiment with your advanced 3D settings, and check the effect with a real-time 3D-rendered preview within ATI´s Catalyst™ Control Center to rule your CrossFire system.

Dual-Channel DDR2 800
DDR2 is the next generation memory technology to replace the current DDR. With the highest speed up to 800MHz,DDR2 memory provides great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.

ASUS Super Memspeed TechnologyTo attain top performance, ASUS has managed to break through current FSB and DRAM ratio proportions by utilizing Super Memspeed Technology - the latest technology that provides even more precise overclocking options to unleash the true potential of DDR2 memory. Native DDR2 1066 maximizes system performance by eliminating the bottleneck when overclocking both the CPU and memory - providing great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.

AI Gear2:
Save 50% CPU PowerAI Gear2 allows users to choose profiles to adjust CPU frequency and vCore voltage to minimize system noise and power consumption. For example, users can change the mode in real-time in the operating system to max power saving mode and can save up to 50% power for the CPU when using word processing applications..

AI Nap:
Minimize noise and power consumption when temporarily away With AI Nap, users can instantly snooze your PC without terminating the tasks. System will continue operating at minimum power and noise when user is temporarily away. It keeps downloading files or running applications in quietest state while you´re sleeping. Simply click keyboard or mouse, you can swiftly wake up the system in few seconds.

8 Phase Power Design The ASUS 8-Phase Power Design provides highly efficient operation to generate less heat (at least 15°C (27°F)) than other conventional power solutions. It reduces input ripple current and output ripple voltage, which keeps CPU and power module from suffering the risk of high power stress. It has the advantages of quick transient response and stability, especially beneficial when CPU requires more current immediately under heavy loading or overclocking mode.

Fanless Design - Stack Cool 2: Effective and zero-noise heat dissipation StackCool 2 is a fan-less and zero-noise cooling solution offered exclusively by ASUS. It effectively transfers heat generated by the critical components to the other side of the specially designed PCB (printed circuit board) for effective heat dissipation.

Fanless Design - Heat Pipe: Support side-flow fan or passive cooler The Heat Pipe design effectively directs the heat generated by the chipsets to the heatsink near the back IO ports, where it can be carried away by existing airflow from CPU fan or bundled optional fan. The purpose of the innovative heat pipe design on this motherboard is that the groundbreaking fanless design does not have lifetime problems as a chipset fan does. Furthermore, it provides options for users to install side-flow fan or passive cooler. The Heat Pipe design is the most reliable fanless thermal solution to date.

Q-Fan 2: Adjusts both CPU fan and chassis fan speeds according to system loading ASUS Q-Fan2 technology intelligently adjusts both CPU fan and chassis fan speeds according to system loading to ensure quiet, cool and efficient operation.

Q-Connector: Make connection quick and accurate! The ASUS Q-Connector allows you to connect or disconnect chassis front panel cables in one easy step with one complete module. This unique adapter eliminates the trouble of plugging in one cable at a time, making connection quick and accurate. .

AI NOS: Boost performance when you need it the most!
Applications such as 3D games and video editing demand a huge chunk of system resource. Inject "nitrous oxide" into your CPU! The patented AI NOS™ (Non-delay Overclocking System) technology intelligently detects system load and automatically boosts performance for the most demanding tasks. Unlike other dynamic overclocking techniques, AI NOS™ reacts much faster to satisfy your unending need for speeds .

ASUS O.C. Profile The motherboard features the ASUS O.C. Profile that allows users to conveniently store or load multiple BIOS settings. The BIOS settings can be stored in the CMOS or a separate file, giving users freedom to share and distribute their favorite overclocking settings.

AI Slot Detector: Assists in Proper Installation for PCIe/PCI DevicesWhen PCIe/PCI devices are installed, users can simply plug in the power cable and find out if these devices are successfully installed. Without even switching on the PC or entering the operating system, ASUS´s innovative on-board LEDs provide an efficient way to identify the correct way to set up the PC.

EZ-Flash 2:
Simply update BIOS from a USB flash disk before entering the OSEZ Flash 2 is a user-friendly BIOS update utility. Simply launch this tool and update BIOS from a USB flash disk before entering the OS. You can update your BIOS only in a few clicks without preparing an additional floppy diskette or using an OS-based flash utility.

Precision Tweaker: Achieve system maximum performance! It offers ways to raise system performance inch-by-inch and step-by-step to achieve maximum performance! This is about getting the most out of your machine and taking pride in your customized computer. vDIMM
- Take control of how much power is going into the memory modules. This motherboard gives you 13-step voltage control to the DIMM.vCore
- Find out "exactly" how much power your CPU needs. Fine-tune it with 0.0125 volts at a time! SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) allows
- FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 800MHz at 1MHz increment
- Memory tuning from 667MHz up to 1333MHz at 1MHz increment
- PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to 150MHz at 1MHz increment

C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall) When the system hangs due to overclocking failure, there is no need to open the case to clear CMOS data. Just simply restart the system, the BIOS would show the previous setting and then users can amend the CPU setting again.

Noise Filter: Eliminate background noise while recording This feature detects repetitive and stationary noises like computer fans, air conditioners, and other background noises then eliminates it in the incoming audio stream while recording.

MyLogo2:
Personalize your system with customizable boot logo You can convert your favorite photo into a 256-color boot logo for a more colorful and vivid image on your screen.

Multi-language BIOS: Help you configure system easier and faster The multi-language BIOS allows you to select the language of your choice from the available options. The localized BIOS setup menu helps you configure your system easier and faster.

SATA on the Go The P5B supports the next-generation hard drives based on the Serial ATA (SATA) 3Gb/s storage specification, delivering enhanced scalability and doubling the bus bandwidth for high-speed data retrieval and saves. The external SATA port located at the back I/O provides smart setup and hot-plug functions. Easily backup photos, videos and other entertainment contents on external devices.

Dual RAIDThe Intel ICH9R chipsets incorporate Six Serial ATA connectors with high performance RAID functions in RAID 0, 1. The JMicron controller provides another two Serial ATA connectors for RAID 0, 1, and JBOD functions. This motherboard is the ideal solution to enhance hard disk performance and data back up protection without the cost of add-on cards.

ASUS WiFi-AP Solo: Easily Connect and Share Data WirelesslyWiFi AP Solo allows a new level of versatility for your PC, enabling it to create a complete wireless home network in either AP or wireless client mode. Users will be able to play LAN games, connect to the Internet, access and share printers, and use Skype from anywhere within range. WiFi-AP Solo can provide these functions even when the PC is in sleep mode, so users can use Skype as a true replacement for tradition long distance telephone service. WiFi-AP Solo is an on-board feature, which means that user will save the extra WiFi AP cost.

Dual Gigabit LAN
The integrated dual Gigabit LAN design allows a PC to serve as a network gateway for managing traffic between two separate networks. This capability ensures rapid transfer of data from WAN to LAN without any added arbitration or latency.

2. The Package

The Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP costs around €190~200, as found at several online stores. The retail package shown below, is covered with the various logos to inform you about the motherboard features:

All cables included are shown below:

The manuals and included CDs:

Below is a list of what's in the retail package:

UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable

FDD cable

4 x Serial ATA cables

1 x 2-port Serial ATA power cable

I/O Shield

User's manual

ASUS WiFi-AP Solo manual

3 in 1 Q-connector

1 x 2-port USB2.0 / 1-port IEEE1394 module

ASUS WiFi-AP Solo omni-directional antenna

The board itself is well laid out and all components can be identified easily:

Let's zoom in on the CPU area.

We can clearly see the copper heatpipes that connect the north-bridge and south-bridge chipsets to the copper heatsinks that should work exceptionally well. This design distributes the heat output evenly and it also means the heat can be extracted from a central location. As Asus comments "...The Heat Pipe design effectively directs the heat generated by the chipsets to the heatsink near the back IO ports, where it can be carried away by existing airflow from CPU fan or bundled optional fan...". All nearby components are low profile so these shouldn't obstruct any of the larger cooling solutions. After installing Intel's stock fan, the space between the passive heatsinks and the CPU cooler is very limited. We also tried an AC Freezer 7 CPU cooler that had to be rotated in order to fit. Before purchasing such coolers, check the compatibility list!

The passive heatsinks do their job and keep the northbridge cool. It's advisable not to touch them though, since they get very hot. The motherboard has four banks for the memory modules:

Moving to the southbridge area on the board, we can see the passive heatsink and the 6x SATA 2 connectors, well organized, not too crowded and easily accessible.

The motherboard supports the CrossFire Technology. There are 2x PCI-E x16 slots. If you need to use both channels, the blue channel works at x16 mode while the black at x4. We didn't try Nvidia's hacked SLI drivers to see if they would work. There is plenty of room between the two PCI-E slots so no problems here with the extra large VGA cards:

There are several extra connections for USB, Front Panel Audio, COM2 as well as Firewire on the rear. Asus has include all port modules in the retail package. The back I/O panel has the usual connections:

1 x PS/2 Keyboard

1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial + Optical)

2 x External SATA

1 x IEEE1394a

2 x RJ45 port

6 x USB 2.0/1.1

1 x WiFi-AP Solo antenna jack

8-channel Audio I/O

3. The BIOS

The BIOS is familiar if you have used Asus boards before:

The Advanced Tab includes all the "goodies"

Entering the Jumperfree submenu:

While the latest (beta) 0404 Bios added more features (FSB Strap to North Bridge):

The DRAM Frequency has four memory dividers:

DDR2-533 (1:1)

DDR2-667 (4:5)

DDR2-800 (2:3)

DDR2-889 (3:5)

DDR2-1067 (1:2)

What's rather convinient, is that as you overclock, more DRAM memory dividers become available, that help squeeze every drop from your memory modules:

Finally, more BIOS options. Rather unusual that you can set the CPU Ratio from both the JumperFree and Advanced tabs:

4. Installation

Using Everest Ultimate Edition 2007, we can get more information about the board:

Both North Bridge and South Bridge chipsets unveiled:

The latest available BIOS was installed for all tests (0301). However, for our OC tests, Asus provided a newer BIOS (0404) that really boosted motherboard performance.

Let's now see how our CPU was identified under CPU-Z:

For comparison, we post test results from:

Asus P5B Premium with memory running at 534@5-5-5-15 (Intel P965)

EVGA 680i LT with memory running at 534@5-5-5-15 (Nvidia 680i LT)

Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi with memory running at 534@5-5-5-15 (Intel P35)

Asus P5DH Deluxe with memory running at 889@4-4-4-8 (Intel 975X)

5. Everest Ultimate Edition 2006 - SiSoft Sandra

EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems. Furthermore, complete software, operating system and security information makes EVEREST Ultimate Edition a comprehensive system diagnostics tool that offers a total of 100 pages of information about your PC. The software has several built-in tests for memory and CPU/FPU.

The Asus P5K performed very well in the memory tests, although its performance is not better than the other tested boards.

In the CPU tests, the Asus P5K Deluxe seems slightly faster than the other boards tested.

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software. It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what's really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCIe, ODBC Connections, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc. Sisoft Sandra offers a variety of tests for Memory and CPU.

In Sisoft Sandra 2007 SP1, the Asus P5K Deluxe was ever so slightly fastest although there's very little between all the boards.

The USB performance of the three tested motherboards was measured under Sisoft Sandra with Corsair Voyager 8GB GT USB stick. The "Removable Storage" benchmark was used to get the "Performance Index" (reading/writing operationg per minute).

6. PCMARK - 3DMARK

PCMark®05 is everything you need to reliably and easily measure the performance of your PC and determine its strengths and weaknesses. With PCMark05, you will be able to select the optimal upgrades for your existing PC, or choose the right new PC that fits your specific needs. This easy-to-use product gives you the same tools and knowledge that virtually every professional tester in the industry uses. Below you can see the available scores for memory and CPU.

In the memory test, the Asus P5K Deluxe is a good deal behind the other boards, but in CPU test, it performs much better.

3DMark®06 is the worldwide standard in advanced 3D game performance benchmarking. A fundamental tool for every company in the PC industry as well as PC users and gamers, 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests. 3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today.

3D Mar06 tests both CPU and RAM, as well as VGA card performance. The EVGA 680i LT had the highest score with 2113 marks while the P5K did not fare so well.

7. Science Mark - PovRay - Nero Digital

Science Mark 2.0 is an attempt to put the truth behind benchmarking. In an attempt to model real world demands and performance, SM2 is a suite of high-performance benchmarks that realistically stress system performance without architectural bias. Science Mark 2.0 is comprised of 7 benchmarks, each of which measures a different aspect of real world system performance.

Pov-Ray s a high-quality, totally free tool for creating stunning three-dimensional graphics. It is available in official versions for Windows, Mac OS/Mac OS X and i86 Linux. The source code is available for those wanting to do their own ports. We used Pov-Ray 3.7beta15 for all tests, since it supports Dual Core CPUs. We used the built-in benchmark as suggested by the developers.

In ScienceMark and Pov-Ray, the Asus P5K Deluxe didn't perform all that well...

- Nero Digital

Nero Digital is one of the best known Digital formats, offering both ASP and AVC encoder profiles.

For our tests, we used the latest version of Nero Recode v2.3.1.8 as packaged with Nero Reloaded v7.5.0.1. As a source, we used a VOB file, of 5mins duration. We encoded for each processor in two modes (ASP, AVC) with exactly the same preferences (Same bitrate and Dual pass). The encoding time displayed below is what Nero Recode reported. The lower the time taken, the better. All results are displayed in seconds.

All tested motherboard produced similar times with Nero Recode.

8. CINEBENCH -SuperPI

CINEBENCH is the free benchmarking tool for Windows and Mac OS based on the powerful 3D software CINEMA 4D. Consequently, the results of tests conducted using CINEBENCH 9.5 carry significant weight when analyzing a computer’s performance in everyday use.

Especially a system’s CPU and the OpenGL capabilities of its graphics card are put through their paces (even multiprocessor systems with up to 16 dedicated CPUs or processor cores). During the testing procedure, all relevant data is ascertained with which the performance of different computers can subsequently be compared, regardless of operating system. All tests were done with the latest available build (R9.5), and the sum of all subtests is displayed in the following chart, except for OpenGL Software & Hardware Lighting tests, since both depend on the installed VGA card.

In CineBench, the Asus P5K Deluxe had good performance with a score of 1621.

SuperPI has become an utility to benchmark modern systems. In August 1995, the calculation of pi up to 4,294,960,000 decimal digits was succeeded by using a supercomputer at the University of Tokyo. The program was written by D.Takahashi and he collaborated with Dr. Y.Kanada at the computer center, the University of Tokyo. This record-breaking program was ported to personal computer environments such as Windows NT and Windows 95 and called Super PI.

The software offers up to 32M calculations of PI numbers. For all boards, we tested up to 8M calculations and summed them for a total score.

The Asus P5B Premium seems to be the fastest.

9. Overclocking

Asus does state that the P5K Deluxe is a very good overclocking motherboard. The BIOS includes all settings to boost the CPU's overall speed, either by increasing the FSB or RAM frequencies. We had some problems with the 0311 BIOS. However, the newest 0404 BIOS solved all our issues. Ok, so this motherboard can overclock. The real question is by how much.

Without making any special effort and leaving all voltages at auto mode, we managed to get a 100% stable 484FSB with memory running 1:1.

That was a very good performance! Asus Commando with exactly the same components reached 480FSB. Perhaps with a different CPU, like the Intel E6300, you can get even more FSB "juice" from this motherboard. We have seen reports reaching up to 505MHz FSB. In any case, this motherboard can overclock.

10. Conclusion

Asus was one of the first manufacturers to shipped motherboards based on Intel's new P35 chipsets. We will not go in depth into the benefits of the new Intel chipset, there are already many articles on the web that cover this. We will rather focus on the test results for this motherboard and offer our opinion as to whether someone should take step and buy an Intel P35 based motherboard.

This board offers more or less the same CPU/Memory performance as the "previous" Intel P965 based motherboards. Our test results showed no great difference in CPU or memory performance over the other boards. The overall board design is very good, with lots of copper heatsinks to help keep board temperatures down, although the heatsinks themselves do get very hot!

One thing we didn't like is the fact that the P5K Deluxe no longer has a PS2 Mouse port. It seems that Intel wants only USB based devices, so you will probably need a new USB mouse if you don't already have one. The overclocking capabilities of the P5K Deluxe were very good. We reached an impressive 484MHz FSB with an Intel C2D E6600 CPU. It's possible that with other Intel processors, higher overclocking is possible.

The retail price of the P5K Deluxe is around €195. In comparison the P5B Premium is around €180~200. Both boards offer very good performance, very high overclocking capabilities with no major problems. While we expected that the Intel P35 chipset would offer significant improvements, it didn't, at least not with DDR2 memory installed, since Asus also ships the P5K3 Deluxe with DDR3 memory support. More details on that, later on this month in this review ...